This is a brief description of process to follow in order to travel from the U.S. to Myanmar to arrive at the monastery.

You must get a visa before travelling to Myanmar. There are several different types of visas, but the two that concern us here are the 28-day tourist visa and the 3-month meditation visa
If you wish to stay in the country for 28 days or less, the tourist visa is the right one for you. For a longer stay, up to 3 months, you need a special meditation visa. As its name implies, this visa cannot be used for tourist purposes - you can use it to travel to and from your host meditation center or monastery only. A meditaiton visa is more difficult to obtain, but is better if you wish to stay longer than 28 days.

Follow these instructions to get permission directly from the monastery to come and stay. The monastery will respond with a letter of sponsorship.  You can also obtain letters of sponsorship through the contact persons in various countries, see the Resources section in the Information for Foreigners guide.

Tourist visa: You can apply for a 28-day tourist visa at the Myanmar embassy in Washington. This can be done via post, but the whole process can take 3 months or more. A good alternative to dealing with the embassy in Washington is to travel to Thailand (Bangkok) and obtain your visa from the Myanmar Embassy there. This is a relatively quick 1-2 business day process.
3-month Meditation visa: The only way to reliably obtain a meditation visa is to apply at the Myanmar embassy in Singapore. The embassy in Washington is not currently issuing meditation visas. Review the forms and documents at the Washington embassy website (see link above) to see which items you'll need. .

International flights to Myanmar terminate in Yangon. At the Yangon airport you will pass through immigration where you'll have to show your passport and visa. From there you can get a taxi to take you either to a hotel for an overnight stay, or to the bus station to continue overland to the monastery.

YANGON TO MAWLAMYINE ( and on to Pa Auk Tawya Monastery) There is an over night bus from Yangon to Mawlamyine and this is probably the best way to get there, the Aung Express. There are some busses that go through Mawlamyine and stop at the road outside the Monastery at Pa Auk Village. The Yangon bus station is outside of town and costs $10 to get to by taxi. The people at your hotel can get you a bus ticket and communicate with the taxi driver as to which bus company to deliver you to. If you go on the train be sure to go 1st class and DO NOT get a sleeper- they are filthy. From the Mawlamyine bus station take a taxi to get the rest of the way to the monastery.

• One supporter warns you not to show your meditation letter when you come into the country on the tourist visa as it may be taken at the airport and you won't have it for immigration.
• It's a good and useful plan to have many passport photos with you- 10-12!
• If you go to Bangkok to apply for the tourist visa you can get it same or next day.
• If you want a hotel within walking distance from Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Kim recommends the Satthorn Inn, It is also right next to the sky train so very easy to travel around from there.
• One yogini recommends the Banglampoo area as a "more fun" cheap option area of town to be!

Air Travel  China Air goes directly to Yangon. You can also go to Bangkok and then take a short flight to Yangon. There are several ticket consolidators in San Francisco who can help you. Kim recommends Dawn Keali at Air Brokers, 800-883-3273 x 222. Prices are most expensive during the winter holiday high season and begin to let up after Jan.10th

Lodging and food in Yangon Kim recommends The Panorama Hotel in Yangon as a wonderfully friendly and moderately priced place to stay downtown. Traders near the Panorama has a great bakery counter if you are looking for bread and cheese. In Mawlamyine, if you decide to stay there for a night the Breeze Rest House is run by a very devout Buddhist who will most likely get you to the bus headed to the Monastery or deliver you there himself!

Money Foreigners can not use credit cards or travelers checks in Myanmar, so take enough cash for your travel expenses and any contribution you wish to make. Take "new" 20's or 100's- the Burmese do not like or sometimes accept dirty or wrinkled dollars!

Dana / generosity The Pa Auk Tawya Monastery does not charge any fees for people who come to study, in accordance with the tradition that all teachings are priceless and to be offered free of charge. Please note that it is through the support of lay people in Myanmar and all over the world that the Monastery is able to function and grow. You can feed the whole monastery for $200 per day, if you wish to gain this "immeasurable, incalculable merit"!
Donations to the Monastery can be made for general operations or for specific projects, for example the new woman's meditation hall or library or to feed the yogis or for the Sayadaw's personal projects.

Lonely Planet Travel information
Thorntree discussion area. There you will find the very excellent Compadre's Links on travel in Myanmar
Saddhamma is the web site for the Mahassi teacher U Pandita Sayadaw and has lots of great information.
US State Department Consular information sheet on Myanmar, warnings for travelers, and information on how to register at the U.S. consulate in Yangon.
Myanmar.com the official Myanmar government sponsored web-site.
Myanmar embassy in Washington. Visa application forms and information.
Center for Disease Control CDC - Health info and immunization information for travel in SouthEast Asia.